Storms affect some Barrow County schools

Some Barrow County Schools encountered utility service problems due to storm activity over the weekend, but school leaders say they are working hard to have things back to normal by Tuesday morning.

According to a Monday morning press release sent out by Barrow County School Superintendent Wanda Creel, Apalachee High School, Auburn Elementary School, Winder-Barrow High School and Yargo Elementary School suffered damages.

The release states the Barrow County Maintenance Department began early to repair the damages and will continue to work throughout the day to ensure repairs are completed.

Creel additionally provided an “update on the steps taken throughout the day to ensure the safety and wellbeing of [Barrow County] children.”
The release states the air conditioner was affected at AHS, but was restored by 9 a.m.

There were power outages at AES, which were attended to by the use of emergency generators. Creel said Georgia Power and the school system resolved that problem by midmorning. Another problem arose at about 11:30 a.m. that caused the air conditioner to not be operational in a portion of the building.

Shawn Williams, principal, moved the children to areas where the air was operational.

At WBHS, the air conditioner was affected but was restored by 8:30 a.m.

YES encountered problems with the air conditioner, the intercom service and with the water lines.

Creel’s report states the air conditioner was off for approximately 45 minutes between 8 and 9 a.m. The air conditioner was cooling all portions of the building the remainder of the time. The school’s intercom service was restored by 10:30 a.m. Before then, communication between the front office and teachers was maintained through email and individuals going to the classroom. Bottled drinking water was purchased and distributed to the students and staff. Supplemental water has been brought in to assist with manually flushing the toilets.

A temporary repair to the water line was completed by noon and a permanent repair will be completed Monday evening following the after school program. Paper products were used to serve the children a hot lunch.

“We look forward to having all of our systems fully operational by Tuesday morning,” Creel’s release states.